Town Square

States with the best business climates

Original post made
by liberalism is a disease, Birdland,
on Feb 8, 2013

Countering the recent, unsubstantiated claim that California is not losing businesses to more business-friendly states like Texas, Utah, etc., please see the recent Forbes study at this link: Web Link:

From the summary of the article: 'Right-to-work states dominate the top of the list, with Utah ranking first for a third straight year, while strong union states populate the bottom.'

While this comes as no surprise to most of us who work for national or multi-national firms, it seemed prudent to post this revelation for the deniers that post claims (with no credible sources) that our state is somehow rebounding in spite of a dem majority that espouses high taxes and excessive regulations.

Posted by Literally Been There
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 8, 2013 at 2:57 pm

No one in their right mind would want to live in most of those states. North Dakota? Indiana? Nebraska? Are you kidding me. Also, New York not being No. 1 is nuts.

And what kinds of business are they talking about? Gas staions? Walmart? I've been to these states to visit relatives and...I'm sorry, but I don't see much real business. Certainly not innovative futures with real jobs.

Posted by Be positive
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 8, 2013 at 5:23 pm

Good news is still good news, no matter what spin you attempt to put on it. Yes some companies are leaving Silicon Valley, but as reported there are more moving in than leaving, including those from Texas- Dell continues to expand in CA adding more jobs.

Cholo, I have to agree with you about Hawaii, especially Kauai, but its very expensive to live there.
As far as businesses, they no longer have incentive to offer the medical benefits they previously did, since obamacare either makes the plans prohibitive for employers to offer, or business are incented to steer their employees toward the governments subpar coverage. I understand what you are advocating for, but unfortunately, those days are now gone.

Posted by Dougmiller94566@gmail.com
a resident of Country Fair
on Feb 8, 2013 at 10:20 pm

California is not rebounding from a jobs standpoint. This state continues to have the third highest unemployment rate in the nation. When the state improves to the 10th worst or 20th worst unemployment rate in the nation, then we will be making some progress.

Well, truth be told, were I, say, an unskilled part-time bartender, with no realistic job prospects and living off my wife's earnings, and doing nothing but writing posts here under many names that alternately were found hilarious or repugnant by readers, I'd be happy too to be pumping gas somewhere in North Dakota for $3 bucks an hour.

Hey, Doug, I have a brother-in-law job creating hero in Texas who'll hire you off the street and pay up to $5 an hour to toss hay in his barns. You'll get to smell the mixture of manure and oil in the air all day and night, and at that wage you'll always be eligible for food stamps. Might this be your calling?

Posted by Candy rots your teeth
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 6:47 am

Candy, if you we're an unskilled part time bartender, it would be a step up from your current 'job' of left wing troll and dem apologist. You're destined to be poor in calif. for the foreseeable future. Enjoy....

Posted by john
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 8:11 am

Doug Miller,

Did you see my follow up question on AIG suing the government for not getting favorable bailout conditions? It is related to the business climate/government regulation question, so if it you're welcome to answer it on this thread.

Posted by Literally been there
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 8:44 am

Doug- the unemployment rates in the Bay Area are well below the national average.

As we have a home in another, rural part of the state, I'm aware that people in these areas are struggling to find work. Maybe they are the ones that should think about moving to Nebraska to work retail in the many chain restaurants (as there is nothing to do in these 'boom' states besides eat - going out to dinner is the main form of entertainment).

Posted by Arroyo
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 8:45 am

If you don't believe that we have an extremely dysfunctional anti-business government in Sacramento, you are not paying attention -- or, have never experienced trying to own a business here.

I suspect that Rick Perry will be fairly successful in his campaign to entice business owners to relocate to Texas. If you manufacture a product in California and ship nationwide, why not flee this over-regulated bureaucratic mess?

Posted by Arroyo
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 10:46 am

(Been there)

The City of Austin likely appeals to you because it is the closest in Texas to what you like about California. However, Austin has some negatives and warts - just like other cities in Texas and California.

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Rick Perry's visit and the surrounding publicity will kindle a thought process within the business community -- "Why in the heck are we still trying to survive in California when we could easily move to another state; and the savings would more than offset the cost of the move."

I have a friend who is in the Moving business here in California. Despite a fleet of trucks, they don't have enough available to fill the orders for those leaving for Texas and the surrounding states. They also have to charge extra to get their trucks back to California, because the outgoing dramatically exceeds the incoming.

Posted by Been there
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2013 at 2:01 pm

Property taxes in texas are high and homes are assessed annually to market value (not a prop 13 1%) so if property values increase, so do taxes. It something to think about if you are retiring or saving for your childrens' college education. You may think you're buying your dream home and find out after 15 years that you're not affording it as easily as you once thought you would. And then you will not be able to come back to California because, no matter how you look at it, this state will always be in demand and the housing prices will not be lateral.

And, speaking of education, there are only 2 really good schools in Texas: UT Austin and Rice - both require basically a 4.0. So make sure your kids do very well in school.

Can you tell I love Califonia? We have friends in Texas and we lived there in the military. The friends come to Califonia every summer to escape the heat. The air conditioning is on 6 months out of the year and electricity is not cheap.